Breaking News: Pope Still Dead
OK. I'm a devotee of world and national news and it is presently almost impossible hear about anything except the death of Pope John Paul II. What about those of us who aren't Catholic and are unaffected by his passing?
There is no denying that this Pope will have considerable historical significance. His stance against communism is well documented and one could say he played a part in its downfall. He was also a vocal supporter of the poor (yet was opposed to them rising up against their oppressive governments, stating that Jesus was a spiritual leader, not a political one; I find this more than a tad hyprocritical).
I think the following email I plucked from CNN accurately summarizes my feelings:
"While the pope was a brave and notable man who stood up to Soviet communism, I shall mostly remember him as a rigid, conservative church leader who had the opportunity to modernize Catholicism and didn't."
I agree wholeheartedly.
Here is a man who issued the "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: Apostolic Letter on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone" in 1994 as a "teaching of papal infallibility". This is the highest degree of issuance a Pope can render. It essentially states that this is information direct from God, not just the opinion of the current Pope or overriding feeling of the Catholic church in general. In this release, the Pope said that women cannot be ordained.
In his last book, "Memory and Identity : Conversations at the Dawn of a Millennium", the Pope speaks of homosexuality and the fight for same sex marriage as part of an "ideology of evil".
He also comes out once again against birth control, despite the incredible overpopulation and poverty of many developing Catholic nations (yes, overpopulation and poverty are directly connected).
In short, here was a man of peace that was unfortunately tied to too many archaic concepts about humankind to be truly effective on the world stage in a lasting fashion. I wonder what his legacy would be like were he more modern minded. I hope that the man chosen as John Paul II's successor will be more so. This is doubtful, though, given the current crop of cardinals available for ascension to the papacy.
Eligo in summum ponticem, anybody but these guys.
Further proof of my heathen ways:
Godflesh - Songs Of Love And Hate
(a little drum, a lot of bass, and now you have no face)
Esquivel - Space Age Bachelor Pad Music
(weird electronic easylistening from the 1950s)
Twine - Twine
(glitchy acoustic guitars and cut and paste vocals; soothingly bizarre)
Deru - Trying To Remember
(warm synth washes, odd rhythms, and introspective melodies)
There is no denying that this Pope will have considerable historical significance. His stance against communism is well documented and one could say he played a part in its downfall. He was also a vocal supporter of the poor (yet was opposed to them rising up against their oppressive governments, stating that Jesus was a spiritual leader, not a political one; I find this more than a tad hyprocritical).
I think the following email I plucked from CNN accurately summarizes my feelings:
"While the pope was a brave and notable man who stood up to Soviet communism, I shall mostly remember him as a rigid, conservative church leader who had the opportunity to modernize Catholicism and didn't."
I agree wholeheartedly.
Here is a man who issued the "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: Apostolic Letter on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone" in 1994 as a "teaching of papal infallibility". This is the highest degree of issuance a Pope can render. It essentially states that this is information direct from God, not just the opinion of the current Pope or overriding feeling of the Catholic church in general. In this release, the Pope said that women cannot be ordained.
In his last book, "Memory and Identity : Conversations at the Dawn of a Millennium", the Pope speaks of homosexuality and the fight for same sex marriage as part of an "ideology of evil".
He also comes out once again against birth control, despite the incredible overpopulation and poverty of many developing Catholic nations (yes, overpopulation and poverty are directly connected).
In short, here was a man of peace that was unfortunately tied to too many archaic concepts about humankind to be truly effective on the world stage in a lasting fashion. I wonder what his legacy would be like were he more modern minded. I hope that the man chosen as John Paul II's successor will be more so. This is doubtful, though, given the current crop of cardinals available for ascension to the papacy.
Eligo in summum ponticem, anybody but these guys.
Further proof of my heathen ways:
Godflesh - Songs Of Love And Hate
(a little drum, a lot of bass, and now you have no face)
Esquivel - Space Age Bachelor Pad Music
(weird electronic easylistening from the 1950s)
Twine - Twine
(glitchy acoustic guitars and cut and paste vocals; soothingly bizarre)
Deru - Trying To Remember
(warm synth washes, odd rhythms, and introspective melodies)
posted by Ben at 10:42 AM
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